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Jared Wade: What Bosh Not Playing Means and Indiana Playing Small Ball

Eric Spoelstra is being coy about his starting lineup for Game 2.

Chris Bosh is (almost) certainly out. Many presume that means Miami will move
LeBron James to now-vacant power forward slot while putting Shane Battier at the
other forward. Tom Haberstroh of ESPN’s Heat Index said the Spo “smiled” earlier
today when reporters asked if LeBron would start at the 4, saying only that “all
options are on the table.”

Going small after Bosh went down is not what Spoelstra did Game 1. He instead
opened the second half with a more traditional front court of James, Udonis Haslem
and Ronny Turiaf. Still undersized no doubt, but there were two prototypical big
men on the court. That didn’t last long, however. LeBron and Battier played the
entire fourth quarter at the 4 and 3 spots, respectively, as the Heat dominated the
Pacers for 12 straight minutes on their way to the victory. In one 3-minute stretch
early in the period, those two — along with Joel Anthony in the front court and
Dwayne Wade and Mike Miller at the guard spots — went on a 10-2 run from which
the Pacers would never recover.

As that shows, whether or not LeBron starts at power forward in Game 2 is more
semantics than anything. Regardless who steps on the court at tip-off, Indiana is
certain to see plenty of him at the position throughout the series, particularly if
Bosh, as some presume, will not play again.

In some very obvious ways, this benefits Indiana.

Unstoppable Size

The Heat have nobody on their roster who can guard the 7’2″ Roy Hibbert.
Without the 6’11″ Bosh — Miami’s tallest rotation player — Hibbert will have an
even more glaring size advantage. Bosh isn’t exactly Kevin Garnett defensively,
and Roy had his was with him in early in Game 1, but Spoelstra can’t be excited
about having to take his chances with any of Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem or
Ronny Turiaf guarding Hibbert one-on-one when there isn’t even another
traditional big man on the floor to clog up the paint.

For what it’s worth, even battling foul trouble that eventually led to him fouling
out, Hibbert went 2-for-3 with two free-throw attempts and 2 offensive boards in
9 fourth-quarter minutes on Sunday, even as the Pacers went away from the
post-up game by launching...CONTINUE READING AT 8p9s

In another postseason installment of the Heat Index's 5-on-5 series, our writers give
their takes on the storylines before the Heat host the Pacers in Game 2 Tuesday night.

1. Fact or Fiction: Roy Hibbert will get 20-and-10 in Game 2.

Tim Donahue, 8 points, 9 seconds: Fiction. It's possible, but unlikely. There
are too many things that mitigate against Hibbert getting much more than 30 minutes
- fouls, match ups, conditioning. In addition, Hibbert is too easy to take away, if he
becomes the main focus of the offense. The 17 & 11 he put up Sunday feels awfully
close to his peak to me.

Tom Haberstroh: Fact. Expecting big things from him in Game 2. I see Frank
Vogel getting back to his roots, and studying the tape to find a better way to get him
the ball in the post with Chris Bosh ailing. Secondly, the Heat know that locking down
the perimeter and creating havoc in the passing lanes will lead them to fastbreak
opportunities. They'll "let" Hibbert get his.

Jared Wade, 8 points, 9 seconds: Fiction. He only dropped a 20/10 four times
this regular season and couldn't manage to do so against the center-less Magic in the
first round. Doubt he starts now against one of the league's premier defensive teams.

Michael Wallace: Fiction. I believe Hibbert will get the rebounding numbers.
But he doesn't have to quite score 20 for the Pacers to be effective. In order for
Indiana to fully exploit its size/strength advantage, Hibbert's production must be
complemented by David West.

Brian Windhorst: Fact. He only got 27 minutes and 12 shots in Game 1 because
of foul trouble. He also had to play a half against Bosh. And he still had 17 points and
11 rebounds. No excuse not to improve on that.

2. Fact or Fiction: Danny Granger needs to step up more than Hibbert.

Donahue: Fact. Miami proved that they can live with the Pacer bigs having their
way, provided Indiana gets little or nothing from the perimeter. The Pacers have little
or no chance of winning a game - let alone the series - if Granger doesn't play better
at both ends.

Haberstroh: Fact. This is their leading scorer and he was invisible offensively.
The Heat don't respect Granger quite on the same level as Carmelo Anthony, but he's
clearly much less capable against James. If they have any hope of stealing a game in
Miami, Granger needs to hit his shots. Otherwise, where else are those points going to
come from?

Wade: Fact. The Pacers spread the scoring around pretty evenly but Granger
usually finishes near 20 points when they're playing at their best. This means he gets
a few open threes, a few transition points and a few points he creates by getting to the
rim or pulling up in the mid-range. He needs to find a way to score or Indiana is toast.

Wallace: Fact. Granger claimed that Vogel apologized after the Game 1 loss for
not getting him more involved offensively. Granger also has to be much better than 1
for 10 from the field. Bottom line is Granger must make James work much harder
defensively at a time when he'll be carrying an even bigger load to make up for Bosh's
absence.

Windhorst: Fiction. The Pacers hopes are on Hibbert, he has to be a force. He
has to compel the Heat to alter their defense and get out of their preferred style.
Granger of course has to play better, he can't be going 1-of-10. But after watching
Granger play against James about 25 times over the years, I do not expect greatness.

3. Fact or Fiction: You expect the foul disparity to even out in Game 2.

Donahue: Fact. No good way to answer this, but 9 is a big gap, so it will likely
go down. Miami (read: James and Wade) attacks the rim much more, and that will
create more fouls. Unless Granger and Paul George become much more active, the
Pacers will remain...CONTINUE READING AT HEAT INDEX

Hoopspeak Preview:

Brett Koremenos: Heat vs. Pacers - Game 2 Adjustments

Slow down, post up
Indiana’s inability to punish the Heat inside in Game 1 wasn’t so much about posts being
fronted and not getting the ball inside, but not allowing things to develop enough to see
if the read was even available.

Tonight, the Pacers’ biggest adjustment must simply be to have more patience. Too many
times, Indiana’s ball handlers rushed their actions and forced themselves into bad spots.
On the fronting issue in particular, the player making the entry pass needs to slow down,
use pass or shot fakes to make the defense commit to either helping on the big or staying
on the shooter, and then make the corresponding read.

Once the Pacers show some poise, then the tactical adjustments can be made. The first
being that head coach Frank Vogel needs to eliminate any post ups on the block for
players not named Roy Hibbert. David West is much better facing the basket and none of
the Pacer wings have shown enough post dominance to warrant touches other than in
extreme situations (like Granger with one foot in the paint and Mario Chalmers switched
onto him).

Vogel also needs to switch how he is getting Hibbert his post looks. Miami’s fronting
scheme is most effective in two situations: when the Pacers run a cross screen into a
post up or when they simply look for him in transition. In both of these situations,
weakside helpers can easily position...CONTINUE READING AT HOOPSPEAK

Crossover Chronicles Preview:

Philip Rossman-Reich: What will it take for Pacers to pull off improbable upset?

Frank Vogel will kill me already for calling this an upset despite his Indiana Pacers being
down 1-0 in their playoff series with the Miami Heat.

Undoubtedly, though to many NBA observers, a Pacers victory in their second-round
matchup with the Heat would be nothing less than an upset of monumental proportions.
Miami after all is the world beaters with the supposed cake-walk to the NBA Finals
thanks to Derrick Rose's injury and Chicago's subsequent elimination.

The Celtics, even, are the real opponent awaiting the Heat, not the third-seeded Pacers.

Face Indiana at your own risk though. This is a team that is feeling extremely confident
after a virtual sweep of Orlando in the first round, closing out the five-game series with
four straight wins. What the Pacers lack in experience (and maybe some poise), they
make up for in athleticism and versatility. The Pacers were a matchup nightmare for
the undersized Magic and had plenty of time to experiment.

While the Heat had several blowout victories against the Pacers during the season, the
Playoffs ARE a different animal as both teams will likely learn in this series. Frank Vogel
is one of the best rising coaches in the league and he is already learning the battle of
words and posturing that comes with being this deep in the Playoffs. This is a team that
has strengths where the Heat have weaknesses -- point guard, center and bench depth.

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).
I'm (maybe) back after being repetedly banned, merely for supporting a different NFL team than do certain forum moderators.

Didn't realize Haslem was shooting so poorly. Should be able to take advantage of that by sagging more into the paint for rebounds and even charges. Hope they take advantage rather than continuing to miss rotations.

Sitting in an airport in Calgary for the next 4 hours... already scoping the bars with TV screens. Whoever is willing to flip to the game will get a big drink order and tip on behalf of me (on behalf of my employer!!!!)

"I mean, you'd walk into our dressing room and run into Mel Daniels holding a .45 -- it makes you wonder."

I know Battier is getting older, but it wasn't that long ago he was one of the premier defensive SFs in the league.

Yes, but that changed very quickly, it seems. Those possessions he was on Danny were the only time he even tried to do anything in game 1, and he beat Battier pretty handily. Compared to Lebron anyway, Battier is now a sieve. He used to be beastly, almost Artest-like, but father time is knocking....

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).
I'm (maybe) back after being repetedly banned, merely for supporting a different NFL team than do certain forum moderators.

"He wanted to get to that money time. Time when the hardware was on the table. That's when Roger was going to show up. So all we needed to do was stay close"Darnell Hillman (Speaking of former teammate Roger Brown)

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to focused444 For This Useful Post:

you wouldn't think this series involves a #2 seed playing a #3 seed, from media discussion. Geeesh, they make it sound like it was a college game with North Carolina playing IU-PU Ft. Wayne or something.

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).
I'm (maybe) back after being repetedly banned, merely for supporting a different NFL team than do certain forum moderators.

boy, i do. the best chance the pacers have of getting a fair deal officiating wise is joey. there is not a team in the league that would not want joey as one of the officials if they have an important game on the road.

check that. all the teams but one. pretty sure san antonio spurs don't want anything to do with crawford.